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Theatres for diverse musical and dramatic presentations began to open in
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
, in the mid-16th century as part of the general Spanish cultural and political expansion into the
kingdom of Naples The Kingdom of Naples ( la, Regnum Neapolitanum; it, Regno di Napoli; nap, Regno 'e Napule), also known as the Kingdom of Sicily, was a state that ruled the part of the Italian Peninsula south of the Papal States between 1282 and 1816. It was ...
, which had just become a vicerealm of
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
. None of the early theaters still function as such, having been replaced by later facilities from the mid-18th century onwards. Neapolitan theatres first built in the 16th and 17th centuries include:


Teatro della Commedia Vecchia

Built around 1550, the Commedia Vecchia was the first public theatre in Naples. It was the professional home to acting troupes from Spain "playing the provinces," and it provided a stage for the improvised antics of the masked and costumed figures in the then innovative Italian
commedia dell'arte (; ; ) was an early form of professional theatre, originating from Italian theatre, that was popular throughout Europe between the 16th and 18th centuries. It was formerly called Italian comedy in English and is also known as , , and . Charact ...
. In its heyday, the theatre was so successful that the government put a tax on their proceeds to finance the Casa dei Incurabili, a home for people with incurable diseases. The theatre was acquired in 1587 by a consortium of merchants and seamen from
Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...
. It was torn down in the early 17th century and replaced by the church San Giorgio dei Genovesi, built to serve the considerable
Genovese Genovese is an Italian surname meaning, properly, someone from Genoa. Its Italian plural form '' Genovesi'' has also developed into a surname. People * Alfred Genovese (1931–2011), American oboist * Alfredo Genovese (born 1964), Argentine ar ...
population in Naples at the time. For many years, however, the church was called "San Giorgo alla Commedia Vecchia", thus recalling its origins.Perillo, Marco (2016)
''Misteri e segreti dei quartieri di Napoli''
p. 139 (electronic edition). Newton Compton.


Teatro dei Fiorentini

Built in the first decade of the 17th century, the Teatro dei Fiorentini was meant to replace the defunct Commedia theatre. It took the name from the nearby church of
San Giovanni dei Fiorentini The Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini ("Saint John of the Florentines") is a minor basilica and a titular church in the Ponte ''rione'' of Rome, Italy. Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the protector of Florence, the new church for the ...
. It seated approximately 250 people. In the 18th century the theatre specialised in the
opera buffa ''Opera buffa'' (; "comic opera", plural: ''opere buffe'') is a genre of opera. It was first used as an informal description of Italian comic operas variously classified by their authors as ''commedia in musica'', ''commedia per musica'', ''dramm ...
genre. Antonio Orefice's ''Patrò Calienno de la Costa'' which premiered there in 1709 was the first opera buffa in Neapolitan dialect to be performed on a public stage.Robinson, Michael F. and Maione, Paologiovanni (2001)
"Orefice, Antonio"
''
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''. Retrieved 22 June 2017 (subscription required for full access).
From 1724, the theatre's main competitor in the ''opera buffa'' genre was the much larger Teatro Nuovo. Nevertheless, the Fiorentini survived as a theater into the early 20th century, although it became increasingly a venue for comic plays rather than operas. An establishment calling itself the ''Fiorentini'' exists today on the same site but has not functioned as a theatre for many years. It is now a
bingo hall Bingo is a game of probability in which players mark off numbers on cards as the numbers are drawn randomly by a caller, the winner being the first person to mark off all their numbers. Bingo, also previously known in the UK as Housey-Housey, ...
. Florimo, Francesco (1880)
''La scuola musicale di Napoli e i suoi conservatorii''
pp. vii–ix; 30–105. V. Morano


Teatro San Bartolomeo

The Teatro San Bartolomeo was the predecessor of what is now the main opera house of Naples, the
Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo ("Royal Theatre of Saint Charles"), as originally named by the Bourbon monarchy but today known simply as the Teatro (di) San Carlo, is an opera house in Naples, Italy, connected to the Royal Palace and adjacent t ...
. Built in 1620, the Bartolomeo was originally devoted to prose theatre but by 1650, it was primarily an opera house and the site of the performances of the first real opera in Naples—that is, works by
Monteverdi Claudio Giovanni Antonio Monteverdi (baptized 15 May 1567 – 29 November 1643) was an Italian composer, choirmaster and string player. A composer of both secular and sacred music, and a pioneer in the development of opera, he is considered ...
and others from the north, which had begun to filter down to the south. It had been very badly damaged during the insurrection of 1647-48 but was soon rebuilt at great expense. In 1724 the
opera seria ''Opera seria'' (; plural: ''opere serie''; usually called ''dramma per musica'' or ''melodramma serio'') is an Italian musical term which refers to the noble and "serious" style of Italian opera that predominated in Europe from the 1710s to abo ...
''
Didone abbandonata ''Didone abbandonata'' is an opera libretto in three acts by Pietro Metastasio. It was his first original work and was set to music by Domenico Sarro in 1724. The opera was accompanied by the intermezzo '' L'impresario delle Isole Canarie'', also ...
'' with the
intermezzo In music, an intermezzo (, , plural form: intermezzi), in the most general sense, is a composition which fits between other musical or dramatic entities, such as acts of a play or movements of a larger musical work. In music history, the term ha ...
''
L'impresario delle Isole Canarie ' (The impresario from the Canary Islands), also known as ''L'impresario delle Canarie'' or ''Dorina e Nibbio'', is a satirical opera intermezzo libretto attributed to Metastasio (Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi), written in 1724 to be performe ...
'' by
Metastasio Pietro Antonio Domenico Trapassi (3 January 1698 – 12 April 1782), better known by his pseudonym of Pietro Metastasio (), was an Italian poet and librettist, considered the most important writer of ''opera seria'' libretti. Early life Me ...
and the composer
Domenico Sarro Domenico Natale Sarro, also Sarri (24 December 1679 – 25 January 1744) was an Italian composer. Born in Trani, Apulia, he studied at the Neapolitan conservatory of S. Onofrio. He composed extensively in the early 18th century. His opera ''Didon ...
was performed there. The theatre burnt down in 1681, but reopened two years later. It was closed definitively in 1737 when the newly built Teatro San Carlo replaced it as the royal opera house. It was then largely demolished to build the Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie (also known as "Graziella al Porto Napoli"). However, remnants of the old theatre's boxes are still visible in the church.Lynn, Karyl Zietz (2001)
''Breve storia dei teatri d'opera Italiani''
p. 45. Gremese.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Early Theatres In Naples Early theatres
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
Theatres Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actor, actors or actresses, to present the experience of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a stage. The p ...
17th century in Naples